Victory Fighting Championship signs prospect Austin Vanderford
Victory Fighting Championship’s continual search for blossoming talent has brought a new high-end prospect into the fold.
Unbeaten welterweight Austin Vanderford has signed a multi-fight deal with Victory Fighting Championship and the 27-year-old will make his organizational debut at VFC 59 on Saturday, December 16 at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska.
“I’m super excited and very thankful for this opportunity,” said Vanderford. “My end goal is to be in the UFC and be a world champion. I want to be the best in the world and to get an opportunity like this to be in Victory Fighting Championship, this is the place I want to be to help me get to my goal.
“The VFC is an awesome promotion that I’ve only heard great things about, so I feel very lucky to be here and I’m excited to get started.”
Vanderford, who is originally from the small village of Ninilchik, Alaska, but now fights out of Portland, Oregon, made his professional debut back in March and scored a first-round TKO victory. He followed that up with a pair of decision victories, including his most-notable win to date coming with a verdict over Ben “Phoenix Jones” Fodor. For his upcoming VFC debut, Vanderford expects to be cornered by his girlfriend, UFC flyweight sensation and Dancing with the Stars finalist Paige Van Zant, along with UFC veteran and The Ultimate Fighter finalist Ed “Short Fuse” Herman.
“Austin is a bright young star and we are eager to see him compete inside the VFC’s famed square cage,” said Ryan Stoddard, General Manager of Victory Fighting Championship.
“He has a great deal of skill and definitely has a promising future ahead of him. The next step is for him to prove himself and become one of the elite talents in Victory Fighting Championship.”
Wrestling has provided Vanderford’s base in mixed martial arts as he boasts two-time All-American status and NAIA national champion status from this tenure at Southern Oregon University. But Vanderford doesn’t just rely on his wrestling, and in fact, he prefers to use it only to dictate the action before launching into strike mode.
“I use my wrestling when I need to, but I’m focused on my striking and I love to just bang it out,” said Vanderford.
“I’m learning, I’m looking to improve on everything, and I want to get better every fight.
“Fans can expect to see an exciting and explosive fighter. My goal is go out and dominate. I want to be a dominant fighter. I truly just love to fight.”
Victory Fighting Championship, the leading mixed martial arts promotion airing on UFC FIGHT PASS®, returns December 16th at the Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska. The event will be Victory Fighting Championship’s first show on UFC FIGHT PASS® under its new ownership of Alliance MMA. The action will hit VFC’s famed square cage beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. PT.
Tickets for VFC 59 are available at www.ticketmaster.com.
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